The Grandest Familiar
by nasalinjector
Summary: Louise wanted a familiar; a good familiar, maybe a great one, or even a GRAND one. Little did she know, she was about to summon the grandest familiar of them all. Now, pulled away from the war between ancients, Rubick, the Grand Magus, master of any and every form of arcanery, finds himself the servant of someone who cannot cast a single spell.
1. Chapter 1

my first fanfic story I've written. Wanted to get into writing for a long time, but i never found the incentive till recently. post reviews and stuff

familiar of zero and Dota 2 belong to their respective creators

"WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT!"

Louise was getting seriously annoyed at her familiar. Sure, he had certainly looked pretty impressive during the summoning. Tall, dressed in flowing purple robes, and holding an impressive looking staff tipped with some sort of green goop. His very presence emanated a sort of power; the kind that comes with immense amounts of knowledge. None of the students present, including Louise, had any idea what the familiar she had summoned was, and were only further confused after it had started speaking a foreign tongue. They had stood there, dumbfounded, until Professor Colbert reminded Louise to complete the binding ritual.

The ritual had gone through without any complications, and the students were told to return to their rooms, leaving Louise to wonder what exactly she had summoned.

She originally thought the familiar to be some sort of golem; an assumption made because of the familiar's strange face. This, however, did not explain how the familiar could speak, be it in a foreign tongue, since no golem could talk as they had no mind of their own.

Later, Louise realized that the best way to find out what her familiar was would be to ask it herself, and asked a passing teacher to cast a translation spell on the familiar. He told her that he that he was a human, and that his "face" was just a mask. He told her that his name was "Rubick", and he was the "Grand Magus," which is apparently a title given to his nation's most powerful mage. This knowledge had worried Louise, since she had technically kidnapped another noble; a powerful one at that, and if what he had said was true, then his nation would no doubt some after him, perhaps even start a war in the process. If that happens, then Louise would be the one responsible

The familiar had reassured her that his nation would not bother searching for him, as he had been gone for a long time. In fact, this was not even the first time he was unexpectedly pulled to a foreign land.

For the first day after the summoning, Louise had gotten along well with her newly summoned familiar. Though he had refuse to do any of Louise's chores, (understandable, as since he was such a powerful noble, he'd probably never washed cloths in his life) he had been nice enough to Louise, treating her with the respect one would expect from another noble. However, Louise had noticed that the familiar was constantly twitching. She'd attributed this to nerves, since the man had just been brought to a strange new land, and had expected him to stop after a good night's rest (Louise hadn't had a bed ready for the familiar, since she had expected and animal, but the man said he didn't mind).

But the familiar didn't stop.

In fact, he got worse, especially after he took a glance at the night sky and muttered to himself "curious…"

What had begun as small twitched of the hands and head had now become full body convulsions that shook the man's entire upper body.

And so, despite the fact that the man in front of her had claimed to be a powerful mage, Louise decided that, as the man's master, she would do smoothing about this.

"STOP THAT, stop that right now!"

"Stop what?" the man asked, still gazing intently at a passing student and her bugbear familiar

"Stop… MOVING! You keep twitching and shaking and shuddering and it's ANNOYING!"

"Oh, my apologies. I tend to do that when I… see something interesting," Rubick explained

"well it's annoying and as your master, I command you to stop," Louise pointed at him, which was quite a sight as she only came up to the man's waist, "and I don't see what's so interesting about this place; it's just a school of magic."

"Well for one," Rubick said, raising a finger, "the other familiars in the 'school of magic' are very new to me, several of which I have never seen before."

"Two, this place has two moons, while where I come from, there is only one."

Rubick glanced out of the window

"Which means three; I have been brought to another world, if not another plane of existence."

"W-w-wait," Louise stammered, "you from another WORLD? How do you know your lands are just very far away?"

"As I said, there are two moons in this land, and only one in mine," Rubick explained.

"But don't be too worried; I've been pulled to a different world once already, and I was having quite some fun with the experience until you brought me to this place."

"You've been summoned before?" Louise gasped, "By whom?"

"The ancients"

"The what?"

Rubick sighed internally; this girl must be quite dense if she doesn't even know about the Ancients.

"The ancients; two great primordial beings that were imprisoned and are now wagin war against each other."

Then, Rubick had a realization.

"Wait, you mean to say you've never heard of the war between Ancients?"

Louise shook her head, still trying to make sense of what her familiar had just told her.

"Curious," Rubick muttered, "curious indeed."

 _So, it seems that this world has yet to be contacted by the Ancients, which means…_

Behind his mask, Rubick chuckled.

"What's so funny," Louise demanded

"Oh, nothing…"

 _A world that even the ancients themselves have not discovered_ , Rubick mused, _I wonder what new arcanery this land has to offer._


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the delay. I was busy doing research that would help me write this story, aka leveling up my compendium.**

 **anyways, thanks for the reviews, and here's a slightly longer chapter two**

"So, famil- er-I mean… mister Rubick," Louise stuttered. While she considered herself to be a well mannered young lady, she had not expected to have to be well mannered towards her own familiar.

Still, if he really was a noble, then she should at least treat him with the proper respect.

"Just Rubick is fine," the man responded, looking up from his freshly poured tea. "is there something you need?"

"Yes there is. Could you explain to me what this 'war between ancients' you mentioned earlier is?"

Louise had been meaning to ask the question ever since her familiar asked her if she knew of this war earlier that day. She had tried to brush off the question as unimportant; probably just some feud in a far away land, or world, if the words of the twitchy familiar were to be believed. But the simple question stuck with her, perhaps because of curiosity that her familiar could indeed be from another world. Regardless of the reason, Louise decided that she would ask this 'Rubick' about the war he mentioned and now that they were in the privacy of her room, she decided that this would be a good time to ask.

"Ah, yes, the war between ancients," Rubick mused, "Hmmm, I've never actually had to explain it, since everyone I've met already knew about it. In fact, even I don't know all the details. So… how should I begin…?"

The grand magus thought about this for a few seconds. Now, while he is reluctant to admit it, Rubick was actually a terrible teacher. He had all the knowledge, but he just didn't know how to relay it to someone else. So, he decided that the best way to answer his 'master's' question would be to tell her everything in hopes that she would understand .

"Well," Rubick began, "a long time ago, there were these beings called ancients that were basically gods. Two of these ancients started fighting and causing all sorts of problems in the world, so the other ancients decided to seal them inside giant space rocks and chuck the pair into space. Now, eventually, these two rocks landed on far away world, and while they were sealed inside of rocks and couldn't act, they still had all their powers. Are you still with me?"

Louise nodded reluctantly.

"Overtime," Rubick continued, "the inhabitants of the world were mutated by the will of the two ancients, and were made into warriors to fight for one ancient or the other; the Radiant ancient or the Dire ancient. Later on, the two ancients probably decided that this was too boring and started to seek out new warriors across many other worlds. I'm not really sure how they decide who to bring into the war, but I do know that once you are made to participate, you are made to follow their rules."

"What do you mean by that?"Louise asked, still struggling to understand everything that was being said.

"It means that you fight for them how they want you to fight. For example, you cannot truly died while fighting."

"What?" Louise screamed, "How is that possible?"

"I do not know," Rubick replied, "but once you die fighting in the war between ancients, you are brought back to life shortly after to fight again."

Louise remained silent at this, mouth opening and closing like a fish, hardly believing the man in front of her. Rubick, on the other hand, took her silence as an invitation to continue his explanation.

"Anyways, not only can you not die while participating in the war, you are also not allowed to fight using your true strengths. I believe this is called balancing. Would you like to know what balancing is?"

Louise remained silent

"Well, balancing basically make sure that all the participants of the war, which are called heroes, by the way, can fight on even footing. For example, one of the heroes is a god-like being so powerful he could craft and break worlds. However, due to the ancients' 'balancing,' he can be defeated by a man riding a giant bat."

At this, Louise started laughing uncontrollably. Everything her familiar had told her before had been farfetched, but a god being defeated by a man riding a bat… that was too much.

"What is it?" Rubick asked, slightly confused "was there something wrong with my explanation?"

"No," Louise chuckled bitterly, "no, there's…. oh, I knew I shouldn't have hoped for so much. There's no way I could have summoned something good. No way! Louise the zero summoning an all powerful mage? I knew it was too good… too good to be true. But I tried… I tried and tried my best, but still, the only thing I get is this. I really am the zero, aren't i? Only a zero could summon something like this…"

"I do not understand…" Rubik muttered, uttering those words for the first time since… well, forever.

"I've told you all I know about the origins of the war. Perhaps you want to know more about the detail-"

"ENOUGH," Louise cried, "ENOUGH, ENOUGH, ENOUGH! No more of your explanations! I don't want to hear anything from you! Your words mean nothing! They don't make sense, so SHUT UP!"

"I assure you that my words make perfect sense," Rubick said, feeling slightly offended. He considered himself to be quite easygoing, especially compared to other mages like Invoker, but this little girl's rants were getting on his nerve. "As the Grand Magus, I can for sure say that-"

"NO," Louise shouted, sounding angrier, "NO, you are NOT some sort of 'Grand Magus."

"Wh... What?" Rubick was shocked. Between all the allies and enemies he's had, none have sought to deny him his title. He'd killed a lot of people to get the title, dammit!

"You're not a Grand Magus; you're not a magus at all! You're some psychopath from an asylum that I've summoned as my familiar!"

"Is that so?"

"YES! Now stop with this 'war between the ancients!' It's not real! There is no possible way it can be real. I can't believe I actually thought you were speaking sense. I should have known when you said there's only one moon where you come from."

"I assure you, there is in fact only one moon," Rubick huffed, now genuinely annoyed.

"ENOUGH! I will not tolerate such a tone from a lunatic!"

The room was silent for a few seconds, with both occupants glaring at each other; Louise doing so out of anger, and Rubick out of annoyance.

Finally, Rubick sighed in exasperation. While it would be much easier to simply kill the girl to shut her up, the notion that someone actively refuses to acknowledge his greatness did not sit well with him. The girl thought that he was insane! While he himself realizes that his sanity is not his strong suite, he is certain that he is not a crazy, senseless lunatic! That description belongs to people like Timbersaw, not him

"If I can prove to you that I am indeed deserving of the title of 'Grand Magus,'" Rubick mused, "will you acknowledge me as being sane and entirely right and yourself as being completely, absolutely wrong?"

"Fine," Louise barked, "if you insist on continuing with your hallucinations, go ahead. That is none of my concern, as long as you do not embarrass me or kill anyone."

"Good," Rubick chuckled, and stood up to leave Louise's room

"Wait," Louise called, realizing she may have just set loose a lunatic in the school, "what are you going to do?"

"I simply aim to prove that there is no one in this world capable of standing up to me. Will that satisfy our little agreement?"

Without waiting for an answer, Rubick stepped out of Louise's room, and when Louise ran to intercept him, he was already gone, as if he had disappeared into thin air.

Actually, he had in fact disappeared into thin air, thanks to a spell stolen from a certain religious murder-scarab.

 _Now_ , Rubick thought to himself, _how should I prove myself without killing anyone? Perhaps a series of non-lethal duels?_ And then _, this "tea" drink is really quite nice… I must learn how to make it myself_

 ** _that's it for now. Please post some reviews so i can improve my writing_**


	3. Chapter 3

**A slightly longer chapter this time. Enjoy yourselves and leave reviews please, negative or positive doesn't matter, as long as it's constructive. it helps me to write more and better things.**

The days following Louise's disagreement with her familiar went by without much excitement. Every day, Louise went to class, got made fun f by her classmates, and returned to her dorm to yell at her disobedient familiar before going to another class or to eat. After a few days of the same routine, Louise had already put her familiar's insane ramblings to the back of her mind. After all, he had absolutely failed to prove himself to her, despite how confident he sounded. To Louise, this was confirmation that her familiar was in fact a wacko from some insane asylum, which leads to her current predicament; deciding what to with him. So far, the familiar has refused to dress her, fetch her supplies, or even do her laundry. As punishment, Louise stated that she will not give him any food. This did not seem to faze the familiar, who continued to ignore her every command. Not only that, but the familiar was also constantly missing. There were even days where Louise would not even see the lunatic at all. This as both a blessing and a curse, as while Louise did not constantly have to deal with him; his absence became a source of further teasing from the other students, especially the Germanian, Kirche.

"Your familiar won't even listen to you, or even show up?" she would laugh, "I really can't blame it; if my master were the zero, I'd hide myself away too."

However, unbeknownst to the two nobles, Rubick was not hiding himself; far from it. He was simply frequenting a place few nobles ever visited: the kitchen. Now, this is not because he had given up on proving his prowess to Louise. Partially, he just wanted to wait for the perfect time, in the perfect place, to fully display his powers to the little girl in a way that would make her regret ever doubting his title or his words. But the main reason was that the whole "no killing" condition really put a wrench in his plans. While Rubick was one of the greatest sorcerers to have ever lived, few of his spells; his own or otherwise, were both impressive _and_ safe to use without accidentally killing someone, especially in a crowded academy. So, while he waits for a chance to somehow use his more impressive spells without accidentally killing someone, he chose to peruse his other objective.

"So, how does this one taste?"

The maid Siesta took a sip of the freshly brewed tea.

"It's great, mister Rubick," she smiled, "you've gotten really good at making tea."

"Well, I have always been an excellent student," Rubick gloated, pouring himself a cup of hand-made tea, "if there is knowledge to be obtained, I will obtain it."

Siesta laughed at this comment. "If you want, mister Rubick, I can teach you how to make other foods and drinks," she offered. The maid had decided in the days she spent teaching the strange masked man that, if what he said was true and he was indeed a noble, he was the nicest noble that she'd ever met. He seemed to respect the commoners, spoke kindly to them, and though he was quite prideful, he never threw his weight around. This sentiment was shared by the rest of the staff; a sentiment that was only further helped by the noble's apparent interest in learning to cook. And thus, when Rubick came to Siesta requesting lessons on how to make tea, she, and the rest of the staff, could hardly refuse.

"Hmm," Rubick mused, "learning to make other foods and drinks… yes, I believe I would like that. But for now, I should return to my summoner. If I stay gone another day, she would probably get mad again, and I would prefer to not have her die of a rage-induced heart attack before she acknowledges my greatness."

Siesta giggled at his comment. During their first lesson, Rubick had told her about the deal he had made with his master.

"Alright then," Siesta said as Rubick stood to leave, "I promise I'll teach you tomorrow when you come back. We'll start with making cake, and then move on from there."

As the Grand Magus walked out of the kitchen, he reviewed all the knowledge that the young maid bestowed upon him and chuckled. _Well what do you know_ , he thought _, I would have never guessed making food would involve so many intricacies. I thought you just put stuff over a fire! Then again, I never really had to make my own food, being the Grand Magus and all…. One I return to the War between Ancients, I must make food myself. And then I will give the food to everyone else, and gloat to everyone else about the food I make. Can any other hero cook? I don't think so. Ha! Take that, Lion, Lich, Warlock, and Invoker! You may be mages, but I bet none of you can make food like me, especially once I learn more from that maid._

 ** _-Next Day-_**

"What do you _mean_ she's not here?" Rubick complained to the rather nervous cook, "She did promise she would teach me how to make cake today!"

"I'm s-sorry, mister Rubick," the cook stuttered, "I'm afraid she won't be here today. If you'd like, I can teach you myself, or perhaps another of the cooks can."

"Hmm…," Rubick mused, "no, I'd rather that Siesta teach me. She made me a promise, and I like it when people can keep promises. If she is not here today, then I will simply wait until she returns."

"Um… about that," the cook, Marteau, muttered.

"Yes, what is it." Rubick asked, "is Siesta perhaps taking some sort of extended vacation? When will she be back?"

"Siesta… Siesta will not be returning to the academy," Marteau replied, his face downcast

"I'm sorry?"

"She… was taken away, by one of the Palace messengers; Count Mott. She will not be returning to the academy again."

"Why that is preposterous!" Rubick exclaimed, "How can she expect to teach me when she is not even here?"

"It's not like Siesta wanted to go," Marteau cried, his eyes misty with tears, "she was taken against her will!"

"That does not change the fact that she is not here to provide me the knowledge that I was promised. " Rubick huffed, making his way out of the kitchen "If she cannot return by herself, then I will simply have to go get her."

"Wait, mister Rubick," Marteau cried as he ran to intercept him, "Count Mott is a dangerous man! He's a triangle water mage and a employee of the crown! you can't possibly-"

But Rubick was already gone, once again disappearing into thin air.

 _The name is Count Mott, huh,_ he thought to himself, _Time to find me a map… and someone to read it to me._

 ** _-Later, at the Mott estate-_**

 _It seems that blue haired girl was right_ , Rubik thought to himself as he walked through the mansion's halls. _This is a rather big housewhich generally means whoever lives here is powerful, either in status or combat prowess… hopefully it's the latter; cooking is fun and all, but if I don't find someone to fight soon, I'll be bored out of my mind._

Boredom would not be a problem; it would seem, as after turning a corner, Rubick found himself facing a pair of burly armored guards, their spears out and ready for combat.

That walked right pass him.

 _Such a big house with no methods of detection_? Rubick mused as he **Skeleton Walk** ed, invisible, pass the guards. W _ho ever built this place must be a total idiot._

 ** _-A Bit Later, Still at the Mott estate-_**

Siesta stood, un-moving, as Count Mott walked around her, like a wolf circling its prey. His eyes stared at her, taking in her features as if admiring a piece of furniture. In her mind, she cursed the headmaster of the academy for selling her like she was some sort of property. She cursed the crown for allowing Mott to do this. And most of all, she cursed Count Mott himself. Still, as a commoner, she couldn't do anything about her situation. For now, she would have to endure her new job… at least the pay was good; if nothing else, she will have more to send back home. Maybe if she waited long enough, someone would even come rescue her, like in fairy tale stories.

Siesta sighed. No, there was no one coming for her; no noble would ever think of-

"Hello! Is anyone home?" a familiar voice called from the hallway, "I do hope it's you in there, Siesta, and not another scantily clad woman or half-dead man."

Count Mott turned his attention away from Siesta, confused. "Who goes there? This is the estate of Count Mott of the Wave, and I demand-"

The door leading to the hall promptly exploded, sending wooden shrapnel flying everywhere, including Mott's face.

Mott hissed in pain as a piece of wood left a sizable cut in his face. However, he simply took out his wand, muttered a spell, and the cut closed up.

"Oh, a healing spell? Well, don't mind if I do…" the voice from before said.

"Who are you," Mott cried, fury in his voice, "as the royal messenger, I demand you show yourself!"

"Very well then," the voice chuckled, "if this indeed your house, then I should probably introduce myself."

From the shattered debris of the wooden door, a tall figure immerged, wrapped in green and purple robes and donning a strange mask

"Mister Rubick!" Siesta cried.

"Ah," Rubick exclaimed, "there you are. Now then, we must hurry back to the academy. The day is short and you still have to teach me how to make-"

"YOU!" Count Mott roared, interrupting the two's reunion, "HOW DARE YOU! You break into my house, break down my door, and now you think you can take my property? Do you have ANY idea who I am?"

"Hmm, Rubick mused, rubbing his chin-er-mask, "you are Count Mott, correct?"

"Yes! And you have just-"

"Then you are Siesta, yes?" Rubick asked the scantily clad maid, who nodded in response.

"Well then, I believe that there is no mistake in identity here," the Magus said as if he had just solve everything. He walked towards Siesta, completely ignoring the man glaring daggers at him, and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Now then, let us be on our way. Oh, and you should probably change your clothes, Siesta. It's rather cold right now, and you might get sick, and I would rather not have any more interruptions in my lessons. "

"S-S-STOP!" Mott sputtered in rage, "HOW DARE-HOW DARE YOU! You think you can just take my OWN PROPERTY away from me? GUARDS!"

At once, the room was filled with armored men carrying swords and spears that were soon pointed at Rubick. At his side, Siesta was trembling in fear. She was sosure that the nice noble had come to rescue her, but now with all these guards, there was no way they were getting away.

Rubcik, on the other hand, was not the slightest bit afraid.

"Really," he scoffed, "I don't have time to farm creeps right now. I must return to my cooking lessons with this maid immediately."

"You fool. You do not realize the situation you are in, do you? Very well, I shall give you a tip. I, Count Mott of the Wave, Royal Palace messenger, Challenge you to a duel, for your insolence towards me, attempted theft, and the breaking of my door.

Mott took out his wand and pointed it threateningly at the intruding magus.

Who in turn cried out in glee, "A duel? Well, who am I to refuse! Very well then, I accept your challenge. So will this be a duel to the death or a duel until someone surrenders?"

"Death," Mott sneered, getting ready to cast his first spell.

"Good," Rubick mused, "that's my favorite kind of duel."

 **Repel**

Waving his staff, Rubick surrounded himself in a glowing, translucent, barrier. This was no ordinary barrier, mind you. It was of divine origins; a barrier that negate all other spells; a spell stol-er-borrowed from a holy knight.

"Go on then," he said; motioning with his free hand, "you get to land the first few hits."

With that, Mott unleashed a torrent of water at Rubick strong enough to punch through steal. However, upon touching the barrier, the spell simply stopped as if hitting an impenetrable wall.

"What! Impossible!" Mott cried.

"Hmm, that was a good spell. But, you'll have to do better than that."

"ARRGH" with a roar, Mott sent a plethora of spells at the Magus. Even more torrents of water, water bullets, water cyclones, and even shards of ice sped towards the clocked figure. The spells tore through the room, breaking furniture, ripping carpets, and cracking the walls. Still, through all of this, Rubik stood unharmed, protected by his barrier.

"H-how!" Mott stuttered. He had used every single spell he knew, even those not of his element! He'd used all the will power he could muster! Still, nothing seemed to be able to even touch the man in front of him… nothing!

"Well, I must thank you for showing me all those spells," Rubick chuckled, "admittedly, I was a bit short on different water spells. Still, with all those incantations you have, not a single one can pierce magic immunity?"

"Magic…immunity?"

"Yes. None of your spells pierce it. Ah well, it may be a problem in your sorcery, but it is not a problem you will be able to fix," Rubick said, brandishing his staff, "because now, you die."

Mott staggered backwards, trying to get away from the invincible man in front of him. He did not get very far, as a **Fade Bolt** slammed into him, breaking bones and numbing his limbs, and sent him sprawling.

"Y-You can't kill me!" Mott cried as his guards surrounded him in a protective ring, "I-I'm a Palace messenger! I am under protection of the crown!"

"Meh," Rubick scoffed, pointing his staff at the man, "I am the Grand _Magus_ , not the Grand _Politician_. Your status matters not to me; what matters is that you have lost a duel to the death, and therefore you shall die."

"W-wait! Mister Rubick," Siesta cried, peeking out from her hiding spot behind a couch, "you can't kill Count Mott! If you do, you'll be in trouble with the crown!"

"I already said that I don't care about politics," Rubick grumped.

"But they'll send people to catch you and execute you!"

"Then I'll kill them too"

"But you'll be an enemy of the land!"

"I'm fine with that."

"But...But..." Siesta stammered, thinking of a way to prevent her savior from killing Count Mott. It was not that she cared about the man at all; she simply feared what would happen if Mister Rubick did end up getting in trouble with the crown. Certainly, judging from the duel, he was a very powerful mage, but even then, Siesta didn't think he could challenge any of the truly powerful nobles. Finally, she remembered a conversation she'd had with him during their first lesson.

"Your promise! What about you promise to Miss Louise to not kill anyone?"

"Oh…" Rubick muttered, "that's right… darn it, I had forgotten about that. Thanks for reminding me, Siesta."

Siesta sighed in relief.

"It seems that I will not to kill you, Count Mott," Rubick said to the man, who sighed in relief. However, his relief would not last very long.

"However," Rubick continued, brandishing his staff, "though I myself cannot kill you, it doesn't mean others cannot kill you. Say for example, your guards."

"What are you saying," Mott whimpered, "my guards would never-"

Winter's Curse

In an instant, cursed frost spread cross Count Mott's body, freezing him in place. In the same instant, the frost strikes the surrounding guards with a maddening cure. As one, they turn their weapons away from Rubick, and towards Count Mott.

The Count did not even have time to question his own guards, to order them to stand down, before his body was pierced by dozens of swords and spears.

"Now then," Rubick said to a shocked Siesta as the guards continued to stab at Mott's corpse, "that takes care of that. Everything is alright now, because I did not technically kill him! Now, we must make our way back to the academy. If we hurry, we can still make time for a lesson."

"I'm sorry Mister Rubick," Siesta muttered, "but the academy is much too far away; there's no way we can get there today."

"Of course we can," Rubick said as hell pulled a map from him cloak, "just point to where the academy is on this map. I'll **Tether** and **Relocate** you us to the academy, then **_X Marks the Spot_** myself to bring me back when the duration is over. "

Not understanding anything that was said, yet not wishing to question her savior, Siesta simply pointed to the correct location on the map.


	4. Chapter 4

**NEXT CHAPTER TIME. Also, I think I've found a good upload scheduled. I'll probably be getting a chapter out every 2 to 3 weeks. Anyways, please enjoy and leave constructive criticism. Or any criticism.**

Louise was stressed; very, very stressed. This was not unusual for the young noble, as she had quite a lot of things in her life to be stressed about, but right now, she was possibly the most stressed she has ever been. This stress was due to a number of potential future events, all of which are connected, in one way or another, to the upcoming Familiar Exhibition.

Now, there are a number of very good reasons why Louise is so stressed about the Exhibition. For one, she was a Valliere. Her family was just below the nobility in terms of wealth and political power, so she had a lot to live up to. Add that to the fact the she has yet to successfully cast a single spell, the Familiar Exhibition may very well be Louise's last chance t prove herself. And, if she failed to do so, she could potentially be disowned. There was also the fact that the Tristinian nobility will be attending, including Henrietta de Tristain, the princess of Tristian, who Louise was a very… zealous supporter of, to put it lightly.

Seriously, the young noble's devotion to the princess puts even the Cult of One's zealousness to shame.

So, all in all, Louise had a lot riding on her success in the exhibition.

This shouldn't have been a problem for Louise. After all, she had indeed summoned a familiar, which proves that she is indeed capable of magic. However, it was the familiar in question that she was so worried about.

For the past few days, all the other students of the Tristain Academy of Magic have been readying up for the upcoming exhibition, which, in most cases, meant teaching their familiars new and impressive tricks.

Kirche, the busty redheaded Germanian, had spent the past few days teaching her salamander familiar, Flame, to make hoops out of fire and jumping through them, which is a lot more impressive when you consider that salamanders are giant man-sized lizards. Kirche's runic name was "the Ardent," which meant she was passionate, and it showed with how much time she had spent practicing with her familiar.

Guiche, the self-obsessed Casanova, was instructing his giant mole familiar to make patterns out of dirt trails. This was obviously a lot more impressive when seen from above, and was more than likely aimed at the noble girls who will be taking the top seats, as so far, the only patterns the du have made are hearts and roses.

Tabitha, the quite bookworm, was… well, no one really knew what she was ding with her dragon familiar, as they have not been seen practicing anything. It can only be assumed that they only did so at night, which fit the bluenette's quite personality.

As for the other students who had summoned rather simple or plain familiars, they were just trying to doing anything they can. There was a good amount of regular animals that, over the past few days, have learned to dance, sing, make funny gestures or faces, and even draw pictures, sometime all at once.

Overall, every single student-familiar pair was hard at working practicing for the Familiar Exhibition. Well, every single student-familiar pair except for Louise and Rubick, that is.

It wasn't that Louise hadn't tried to do anything with her familiar. She had had many an attempt at rehearsing various tricks and acts with the cloaked man. It was just that the Magus refused to cooperate.

"Why won't you do what I say!" Louise screamed at the masked figure after yet another failed "training" session.

"Because I refuse to juggle colored balls like some court jester!" Rubcik huffed back, "such an act is beneath a Magus. Well… I did try it out once, but I did NOT like it. "

"Y-Y-You- I've already told you that you are NOT A MAGUS! Stop with you delusions and OBEY me!"

"Well, my being a Magus in your eyes is still up for debate, is it not." Rubick pointed out, leaning back on his staff, "After all, I've yet to act on our agreement. And, in case you are wondering, I will do so by my own accord, not by the orders of some little girl who, according to rumors and my own observations, cannot do any of her land's magic. "

"Arrgh," Louise growled, taking out her whip, "You disobedient familiar! How dare you show attitude towards your master!" This was an act of frustration more so than one of anger, however, as the Grand Magus has, so far, been immune to any of her threats. She couldn't deprive him of drink or food, since he seemed to be able to find and make food by himself. He never seemed to sleep in his room, so Louise could not forbid him from rest. He did not seem to feel any pain, as when Louise had tried to whip him, he had simply chuckled, muttering something about "Kobold Foreman" and "fourteen damage." Worst of all, the man seemed to be immune to Louise's furious screaming, and would always talk back, like he was doing now.

"Oh, are you going to whip me again?" Rubick chuckled, leaning down to face his little master, "well you'll have to try better than last time. In fact, unless you can effuse your whip with lightning, I suggest you refrain from even trying to hurt me."

"Silence!" Louise shrieked, more as a reflex than out of actual anger. At this point, she was well aware that getting angry did not help her current situation. In fact, it only seemed to amuse her familiar.

"Just… do something, alright?" Louise sighed, crossing her arms, "I can't afford to mess up again. Just… please! Help me out! I can't afford to look like a failure in front of everyone. Don't you have any pride? Any compassion or empathy? Or do you just enjoy watching me suffer, you absolute jerk?"

Rubick huffed at this question. Of course he had pride! What kind of magus didn't? And as for compassion and empathy… well, he may not be the nicest person in the world, but he wasn't a total asshole! He did care for a few-very few- select people. Besides, Rubick wasn't teasing Louise because he enjoyed her suffering. It was just that after countless years of interacting with nothing but the best of the best, it was… refreshing to see someone that was-er- a little less than competent at their craft. Still, maybe he should reassure the little girl a little, if for nothing else but to keep her from doing something stupid and ruining his plans.

"Worry not," Rubick said, patting Louise's head, making the girl blush, "I will aid you in this presentation, and I assure you that you will look as far failure a fool as possible after I'm done."

"Humph," Louise muttered, slapping away his hand, "that's not reassuring at all."

 **A few hours later**

 _So that's this land's princess_ , Rubcik thought to himself as the young woman stepped out of her carriage. _Not a bad entrance, though the unicorns might be a bit overkill_. At his side, his young master was bouncing up and down in her seat with glee, as the princess had just waved her hand in their direction.

From his vantage point, Rubick noticed a glint of interest in the royal's eyes. No doubt this was because of him; after all, he was a good head taller than anyone else and was wearing obviously foreign clothes.

 _This is good_ , Rubick mused, _now that VIP number one has seen me with Louise, thing will get even easier._

Meanwhile, Louise continued to bounce at his side, so happy that she momentarily forgot about to be stressed about the upcoming exhibition due to the princess's presence.

Later that night, the same princess was inside Louise's room, talking to a gleeful pinket. Outside, Rubick was standing guard, eavesdropping with a summoned invisible eagle. It would seem that his master was actually quite well acquainted with the princess, having apparently been childhood friends. _Good, good,_ Rubick mused, _even better than I expected, actually._

Shortly after, the Princess was escorted out by Louise, pausing to give a polite bow to the green and purple Magus.

"That was Princess Henrietta," Louise explained once the princess had gone.

"Yes, I had gathered as much." Rubick huffed, leaning on his staff.

After a short pause, Louise turned towards her familiar and grabbed his free hand. "Please," she pleaded, "Rubick… you're my familiar… don't make me look like a fool in front of everyone. I don't want to disappoint anyone anymore, especially not the princess." She rubbed her eyes, holding back tears. The pressure was really getting to her.

Rubick was about to make a snarky comment, but realized that this was the first time Louise had called him by his name since she had assumed him to be insane.

"Don't worry," Rubick said reassuringly, "I'll support you."

 **The Next Day**

It is time

The Familiar Exhibition has begun, and second year students were busy showing off what their summons could d. some had help from other students. Some had help from a few commoners. Some preformed impressive tricks. Others went for the downright bizarre.

In a large box high in the rafters, the Princess sat, accompanied by the school's old headmaster, who reminded Rubick of the Light Elemental, and his secretary. From their high vantage oint, they had a perfect view of the performance arena, and could catch every detail of every performance better than anyone else. That is, except for a certain Magus.

Meanwhile, one the arena floor, the Familiar Exhibition was in full swing. The Headmaster's secretary had arranged the presentation so that the more normal familiars went first as to not be outshined by the more exotic ones. At this point, the normal familiars had already presented, so it is now the exotics' turn.

There was a gigantic mantis doing barrel rolls as it zipped above the crowed

There was a basilisk, turning dust particles into stone and making intricate patterns

There was Guiche and his giant mole. The later left a trail of dirt in the likeness of its master, while the former flaunted said face to the ladies in the crowed, getting a good amount of cheers.

There was a weird wolf-tiger hybrid that juggled a set of colorful balls with its snout.

There was Tabitha with her wind dragon, zooming through an aerial obstacle course that the quite bookworm created out of ice.

There was a large red spider that wove a full, beautiful dress out of its silk

There was the salamander Flame, who leapt through rings of fire while it's master, Kirche, danced while surrounded by ribbons of fire.

And now, there was Louise…

And her absent familiar.

Throughout the entire exhibition, Louise had tried to find her familiar. She searched everywhere; in her room, the library, even the kitchen. But the man was nowhere to be found.

Now, as she walked into the spotlight on shaking legs, she inwardly cursed the familiar for getting her hopes up. She shouldn't have trusted him, really, not after she was certain of his insanity. She also cursed herself; for trusting a mad man, and cursed the audience, who would no doubt mock her after her no-existent presentation.

Louise cleared her throat.

"H-h-hello. I am Louise Francois le Blanc de Valliere ."

In her mind, Louise pleaded. She pleaded to Brimir, to the Princess, to anyone that could help her. Most of all, she pleaded for her familiar to do something, anything, to help her. Anything that would prevent her from being remembered as a master without a familiar.

Meanwhile, the crowd looked confused; here was the summoner, but where was the familiar?

Louise steeled herself, ready for her ultimate humiliation.

"My familiar is… well, my familiar-"

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

BOOM

CRASH

Something hit the wall of the Academy very, very hard.

Everyone present turned towards the source of the sound, and many began to scream and run soon after.

There was a golem; a gigantic stone golem the size of a Helkeginian mansion, and it was smashing into the school's main tower.

Commoners ran. Students ran. Teachers ran. Guards ran to protect the Princess, who herself was trying to get everyone to calm down, but to no avail.

Overall, almost everyone was running or otherwise trying to get away from the stone monster. Almost everyone, that is, except a short pink haired noble, who wondered whether this was her familiar's doing, and said familiar, who could not believe his luck.

 _Not only do I get to show off, but I get to used one of my better spells, and get another great summoning spell out of it? This day can't get any better._

As the crowd continued to run, the giant golem halted in its attack. It had managed to break through the walls of the academy's tower. This had a slightly calming effect. Teachers started t herd the students into groups, soldiers were escorting older nobles to safety, and a few kindhearted nobles, the princess included, were helping the commoners escape.

Louise, on the other hand, was still frozen in place, awaiting the appearance of her familiar. _This has to be his doing,_ she thought, _it has to be. Please._

Actually, the familiar in question was not responsible for the golem attack. But her familiar would indeed make an appearance. In fact, the familiar had been planning his entrance into the exhibition for a few days, and now, gifted with a golden opportunity, his entrance would be GRAND.

Moments later, the golem resumed its attack. Now, it was smashing through a corner of the school, and was heading for the city's walls. Luckily, everyone present has already been taken relative far away from the golem. Ideally, the army would use this opportunity to capture the giant, but there was nothing in the world that could stop such an enormous monster

Except and equally enormous monster, that is.

Suddenly, the air chilled. Birds and insects stopped singing, and every teacher, student, commoner and soldier felt a chill in the air.

 _ **Chaotic Offering**_

A gigantic flaming pentagram appeared in the path of the stone golem.

"MAAAAASSSSSTTEEEERRRRRRRR"

The pentagram exploded into a fiery pillar. As the fire cleared, a monstrous form emerged from the smoke. It was humanoid, and just as big as the stone golem. Its gigantic body was wrapped in red muscles. Its hand glowed like they were made out of magma. Its enormous horned head was made out of cast iron, with a maw like a bear trap that constantly spewed fire into the sky.

The crowed stared at the new monster for a moment, and then panicked even more than before. The golem had been bad enough, but at least it was something they were used t; everyone had at least seen golems in drawings, if not in real life.

Now this… no one knew what this thing was. It looked like a monster, or a demon, or some sort of furious god.

If the panic had continued, there would likely have been quite a few injuries. However, a new vice caught the attention of everyone. Including a certain young noble, for whom it was intended.

"Now who can that be? The handsome, noble figure atop the flaming beast?"

The crowd's attention was drawn back towards the fiery monster, and those with good eyesight could make out a purple and green figure atop the thing's flaming head.

"Is he a thief? A knight? A hero? Or maybe even a god?"

Louise stared at the figure wide eyed, hardly believing what was happening.

"HE IS NONE OF THE ABOVE, for he is a MAGUS."

"Who the hell is that," someone screamed.

"WORRY NOT, CITIZENS, FOR I AM HERE TO DEFEAT THIS STONE MONSTER!"

"That's-that's" Louise stuttered, her mind racing.

"CALL ME GRAND, CALL ME INSANE, OR CALL ME NOTHING AT ALL"

"H-how. How did he…" Louise was close to passing out, and would have done so if a certain princess had not run up to her.

"Louise," she whispered, sounding frightened, but hiding it quite well. "Isn't that…"

"Yeah," Louise muttered, "that's… that's"

"BUT IF YOU WERE TO CALL ME ANYTHING, CALL ME RRRRrrrrRRRRUBCIK" the figure lifted his staff, and a bolt of lightning slammed into the stone golem's side. "THE GrrrRRRRRRAND MAGUS!"

At that point, the crowed stopped screaming, and started paying attention. After all, almost everyone would tell that this was someone worth listening to.

" NOT ONLY THAT,"

Rubick paused, looking straight at Louise

"That's my familiar," Louise muttered

"I AM THE FAMILIAR OF LOUISE DE VALLIERE!"

At that, the fiery monster roared, and charged at the stone golem.

 **Author's notes**

 **just to address some questions from previous chapters**

 **-Rubick does not know every spell in Dota; only the useful ones, like ultimate and utility spells**

 **-Cooldowns and mana cost still exist for spells**

 **-Rubick does have limited mana; he has 1359 mana, as he is a full potential Rubick with no items.**

 **Also, should Rubick's face be reviled, or should it be kept behind a mask? Post your opinion in review or message me if you'd like**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5. Here we go. Once again, please leave feed back**

* * *

Louise de Valliere was a decently rational person. Hot-headed, brash, and lacking self-confidence, but otherwise rational. As such, one would have expected her to run in the same direction as everyone else; away from the giant golem and the fiery demon. Instead, she stood stiff and rooted to the floor, so much so that princess Henrietta had to call a guard over to move her.

"Stupid kid," the guard muttered once the princess was out of earshot, "you call yourself a noble, and you chose now to be scared stiff."

However, this was not the case. Yes, Louise was terrified; who wouldn't be, when their city becomes the grounds for a giant monster brawl. More so, Louise was happy. Extremely happy. So much so that she did not want to move away from the source of her happiness, like a child wanting to stay in a candy store.

The whole situation was like something or of a fairy tale; the gallant knight on his mighty steed, fighting a dragon for the sake of the fairy lady. except the gallant knight was a twitchy, lanky, masked wizard, the steed was a gigantic flaming demon, and the dragon, a giant stone golem, was the least threatening of the three.

Still, Her familiar was not some insane commoner. Her familiar had not lied to her. Her familiar had kept his promise. Her familiar had come to her aid. Her familiar had shown himself when she most needed him, and was now... destroying... the...city...huh...

"HEY, WAIT A MINUET," Louise roared, shaken out of her stupor. Wiggling herself out of the guard's arms, she turned and shouted at the figure on the fire demon; "HEY, YOU, I DON'T CARE IF YOU REALLY ARE SOME SORT OF HIGH RANKING SUPER MAGICIAN. YOU'D BETTER NOT DESTROY THE ENTIRE CITY, OR ELSE I _WILL_ PUNISH YOU, YOU STUPID FAMILIAR."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the back of the fiery demon, said familiar had a little chuckle to himself. His so-called master sure was a feisty one; even though she had appeared to recognize his greatness, she still thought that she had some sort of power over him.

Rubick was used to dealing with egomaniacs; after all, he had to constantly brush shoulders with the likes of gods, powerful magus, un-dead kings, and fundamental forces. Still, all of the self-obsessed jerks he'd encountered had possessed enough power to warrant such boisterous personalities. Louise on the other hand... well, no doubt she had some potential; that much he could tell from analyzing some of her failed spells. But in her current state, having accomplished absolutely nothing impressive (except from summoning his, of course,), she still held on to her pride, so much so that she would brandish it at him. It made him wonder if the Arsenal Magus had been like this, even before learning any of his many spells.

Had Rubick had some free time, he would have put more thought into his little theory, and perhaps had a quiet chuckle over it. However, he was a bit preoccupied at the moment; controlling a demon golem to fight a earth golem tended to demand a great amount of concentration, even from the Grand Magus.

For the past few minuets, the rock golem had been trading heavy blows with Rubick's own golem. Every time a fiery claw carved a crater out of the earth golem's body, a fist of rock would leave a flaming gash in the demon's side. Every time iron jaws bit off a chunk of it's earthen body, a stone arm slammed into the fiery beast's side.

However, even though the demon and earth golems were trading even blows, the demon golem held the advantage. While the earthen golem retained any damage it received, the demon was rapidly regenerating. All over it's fiery body, magma oozed out of open wounds and solidified, quickly healing any injuries the golem sustained.

 _What a fantastic creature_ , Rubick mused to himself _, you really are lucky to have caught this beast, Warlock_.

Suddenly, the earth golem stopped cold. Rubick's golem, taking advantage of the situation, elected to take a swing at the stone behemoth. Moments before the strike connected, the earth golem moved, with unnatural speed for it's size, and ducked under the flaming fist.

Then, digging it's enormous feet into the ground, the earth golem launched it self... **away** from Rubick and his golem.

 _It seems you've realized you cannot win this fight, mister golem summoner,_ Rubick mused. _I don't have any quarrel with you yet, so I'll let you go for now. But not before I get myself that wonderful summoning spell._

Pointing towards the figure on the fleeing golem, he probed the summoner's mind, analyzing the traces of the last spell it cast.

 _Ah, yes, here it is. A very simple spell, really; sustain the golem with mana, and use the same mana to control it's movements... more of a very impressive channeling spell than a summon... Huh... that's strange. This does not seem to be the actual summoning spell; just a spell to sustain the summon..._

 _dammit  
_

Well, it would seem that the Grand Magus would have to do a bit more work to get what he wants.

Grabbing his staff, Rubick threw a **_Track_** onto the fleeing cloaked figure. He would have to peruse the man on foot, it would seem; Warlock's Golem might be powerful, but it was anything but fast.

"~Yoohoo,~" he called, "~mister golem summoner, wait for ~me!"

At his current pace, Rubick would be able to keep up with the sprinting golem, thank to the speed effects of **_Track_**

"FIREBALL!"

That is, if certain someone hadn't suddenly needed rescuing.

An invisible blast slammed into the earth golem's head, almost knocking it's summoner off

Well... Now who could have done that?

Louise was standing on the ground with her wand out. Her arms were in a weird position, as if she had suffered recoil from her own spell and was trying to get feeling back into her arms

Now, this should not have been a problem; the golem's summoner had made it obvious that escape was his main goal

Too bad Louise had decided, for some reason probably connected to overconfidence, to stand in the path of the earthen giant.

"COME ON, FAMILIAR! HELP ME STOP THIS GOLEM!"

Rubick sighed. It wasn't that this was a new situation for him; he has had to rescue a good number of overconfident allies during the War Between Ancients. He had just hopped that he would be able to take a break from his... supporting duties in this new world.

Ah well.

"Rubick, what are you doing?" Louise growled, "Hurry up and help me!"

With felling finally back in her arms, Louise attempted to raise her wand and cast another spell.

The golem, however, did not give her the chance; with a earth-shaking step, the giant launched itself forward even faster. It would have leaped right over Louise, if a crack in it's damaged leg had not caused it's foot to fall off.

Right on top of Louise

Louise stared at the enormous chunk of rock falling above her. Her legs were still shaky from casting her previous spell, and there was no way she would be able to blast away something that big.

 _Dammit_ , She thought, _no way. No way i'm dying this way; not after something today. Not after managing to do something right_

Still, the chuck of rock fell

 ** _Cold Embrace_**

Ice spread up Louise's body, encasing her in a frozen cocoon. However, the ice did not hurt; Louise did not feel like she was freezing to death. Rather, she started to feel sluggish, as if the ice was slowing down her mind.

 _Magical ice?_ Louise wondered

Magical or not, the did manage to save Louise's life, deflecting the falling rocks.

 _Did my familiar do this? Probably. But his familiar was a creature fire. Wouldn't that mean he's at least a triangle class?_

Seconds later, said familiar raced past Louie and her frozen cocoon, following the trail of destruction left by the now escaped earth golem.

"Try to stay safe for a bit," He called, "I would rather you survive until you admit that you were complete and utterly wrong, and that i was absolutely right!"

* * *

Fouquet was in trouble

Serious, serious trouble.

She had expected the job to be easy; get in, steal the staff, get out.

She had not expected a giant fire demon to try and stop her, nor it's weird masked summoner, who happened to be a familiar, of all things, to chase her down.

And keep chasing her

For the past few minuets, the green and purple familiar had been hot on her tail, running with a speed that should have been impossible for someone wearing such heavy clothes.

Fouquet had tried to loose him, but nothing seemed to be able to cover her escape. Fallen trees were turned to ash by a wave of fire. Dust screens did not even slow him down (he has a mask, duh), flying boulders were either deflected or dodged, and rock piles simply caused him to spontaneously appear past them.

Still, Fouquet could not afford to be caught; not now, not after getting the staff.

 _I'll have to abandon the golem. I should have enough willpower left to control it for a bit remotely. He'll probably chase the golem instead of me, if i can cover my dismount._

"~What's wrong~?" The familiar called, "~You seem to be slowing down~ Don't tell me you're running out of mana! I'll catch up to you if you slow down anymore!~"

Ignoring the man's taunts, Fouquet readied herself

She was the Crumbling Earth, dammit. The ultimate thief that struck fear into the hearts of rich nobles. She had escaped many nobles before, and she wasn't about to be caught by some... some... _lunatic._

Muttering a spell and waving her wand, Fouquet created an earthen statue on the back of the golem. Throwing up another dust cloud, this time over herself,she quickly threw her own cloak onto the statue, grabbed the staff, and slid herself off the golem's side and into a bush.

There, She thought, no i'll be able to loose him; he'd have to chase the golem for another minuet before my willpower runs out, and by then-

"~Trying to trick me, huh?~"

 _Dammit_

"Well, it's a shame that I'm able to see exactly where you are." The figure appeared, waved aside the tangled vines and leaves, leaning on his staff, "It looks like you've been caught, mister summoner. Or should i say, Miss Secretary. Now then, how about-"

"EARTH SPIKE"

Waving her wand, Fouquet sent a pillar of earth at the figure in front of her. She knew that, in her willpower- deprived state, that she had very little chance of beating this "Rubick," but dammit if she was going down without a fight. For now, all she could hope is that she can force the familiar to have to kill her; that was a far better alternative to being captured.

"Really," the man sighed, "you've already thrown a good amount of spells at me. Wouldn't it be better to save some mana and try to escape?"

Ignoring him, Fouquet kept on casting spells

EARTH SPIKE

GROUND POUND

EARTH WAVE

ROCK PILLAR

Still, Rubick stood unharmed, a milk barrier surrounding his body.

"AH, tired ourselves out, have we?"

Fouquet fell to her knees, completely out of willpower. Shit, she thought, I didn't even make him attack me. He's toying with me; mocking me before capturing me... No, i can't be captured. I can't...

"Kill me," She panted.

"Hmm?" Rubick leaned back, confused "now why would i do that?"

"Just kill me. It would be better than being captured. Please, if you have any mercy, please kill me."

"Now who said anything about capturing you?"

It was Fouquet's turn to be confused

"Wha... you're not going to turn me in?"

"Nope."

"Then why chase after me for so long?" Fouquet asked, unconvinced of the sudden turn of events.

"To get myself that nice little summoning spell, of course."

Fouquet blinked, trying to understand the familiar's strange reasoning.

"You... you want me to teach you how to summon an earth golem?"

"No,no," Rubick chuckled, "you don't need to teach me. Just cast the spell and I'll... teach myself."

Fouquet did not understand what the man was talking about. However, she did sense an opening; a way to get herself out, and possibly escape and complete her task. All she had to do is play nice and make a simple excuse.

"I don't have enough willpower to cast the summoning spell," she explained, "can I-err-cast it later?"

Rubick rubbed his masked chin for a moment, then said

"Sure. I'll keep an eye on you until you get enough mana back, and after you show me the spell, you're free to go."

Fouquet's heart almost shot out of her chest. She could hardly believe her luck; she was so certain that she would be killed, or worse, captured, but now, her captor was actually just going to let her go. Just like that, because of such a half-assed excuse. She would cooperate with the familiar form now, and after she gets him off her back, she would proceed with her original objective. Maybe she could even get this familiar to help, if he was this easy to sway.

She would be cautious for now; even if the familiar was gullible, he was extremely powerful. Better to just play nice for now

"Now then," Fouquet said, standing up and dusting herself off, "I'd better get back fast. They'll be wondering where the school's secretary has gone. When we get back, we tell them that Fouquet used me as a hostage and that you rescued me. Is that good-"

Turning to face her would be captor, she found that he was not paying attention to her. Instead, he was staring intently at the staff which she stole, now out of it's wrappings after so much abuse.

"Oh that?" Fouquet scoffed, trying to sound casual, "that's the Staff of Ultimate Power. It's said to be able to improve your mage craft, but it did jack shit for me. Now, let's go."

Rubick nodded, but kept staring at the staff. Taking it in his hands, he felt the smooth wooden stalk, the golden etchings, and the oh so familiar blue gem.

It was not the original, probably a copy; the parts were a bit rougher, but there was not doubt about it's identity

 _Father's scepter..._ Rubick mused, _curiouser...and curiouser._


End file.
